if you like that, then here's another one; Ohio wasn't an American state, officially, until 1953. I tell this to my dad who was born in Ohio in 1948, to remind him that he wasn't born in America.
The Enabling Act of 1802 authorized the state of Ohio and declared by the ratification of their constitution that they had joined the United States. .
It just never set an official date of admittance, so in 1953 Ohio got Congress to pass a ceremonial declaration admitting Ohio to the Union with the date of March 1, 1803.
Only if Ohio was not part of The United States of America before 1953, statehood is not a requirement for being part of the United States. And most land that is now partitioned into states was at one point unincorporated US territory (some still is).
You might have been able to argue it in court. It's kind of an interesting read, congress passed a few acts that layed out a pathway to statehood, basically checklist of stuff to do, Ohio did all the stuff, then the US congress dropped the ball and forgot to actually ratify Ohios constitution, basically looked at it and were like 'yep, looks good' but never had a formal vote. Everybody thought the matter was settled and just forgot about it for 150 years, till it was pointed out to the 83rd congress sparking some debate. Interestingly the 1953 law retroactively admitting them to the union was proposed by a representative from Ohio. Technically speaking if Ohio was in fact not a state, then that representative had no right to introduce said legislation in the first place. Which could be argued invalidates the law and means Ohio is still not a state. SCOTUS would have to weigh in on that.
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u/SEA2COLA Jul 11 '24
Mississippi did not officially end slavery until 1995. Out of sheer stubbornness, of course.